Arthur took his hand away from Penelle to see the palm of his hand was slick with red. "Walk with me?" he asked her.
She nodded and Arthur waked over to the edge of the walkway before going to his bag and pulling out a potion glass. He mixed up a few leaves of Dittany and Silverweed then looked at his housemate.
"Open your shirt," Arthur said quietly.
Penelle looked at him and blushed. "What, here?"
"So I can put this on," he explained while taking a bit of the mixture on his fingers. "It'll heal your cut."
"Fine," she said with a glance before unbuttoning a few of the lower buttons of her blouse. Arthur touched her wound again just under her chest. The Silverweed and Dittany began working on the cut immediately and Penelle whined a bit from the sting on it. Moments later the stab was not totally gone but lessened greatly. Afterward Penelle buttoned her shirt again and Arthur took off his cloak to put around her.
"What's this for?" Penelle asked with a tilt of her head.
"To cover the blood," he said while picking up his bag. "C'mon, we have Magical Creatures."
"I know," Penelle said while adjusting Arthur's cloak. "There won't be another giant, will there?"
Arthur shook his head while walking back into the castle. "I don't think so."
"Why were you and Olmeir fighting?"
Arthur shook his again. "He wouldn't decrypt the latest message," he said even though that was just the surface.
"There's all sorts of books in the library," Penelle said. "You should check there for something that could help."
Arthur kept walking until he exited the castle. "Yeah..." he said. It seemed like a long shot but it was worth a try.
Penelle looked at Arthur at smiled at him. "So how is Astronomy going?"
"It's going well, I guess. I studied last night" Arthur kept walking into the woods where Hagrid lived. "That surprise is coming tomorrow," Arthur offered, knowing Penelle was trying to cheer him up.
"Oh yeah! I forgot about that!" she cheered, jumping up and down on her way along the forest trail. "Could you show me when you get it?"
"Sure." Arthur shrugged. "Unless it's a secret."
Penelle gasped. "A surprise and a secret?"
"I know," Arthur said, playing along. "It's exciting isn't it."
Penelle laughed then paused, looking at Arthur suspiciously. He smirked and they walked down the to hut where a cast of magical animals had been gathered. The hippogriff Arthur and Penelle had been assigned to last class was given to them again. It looked at Arthur and glared as Penelle led the creature on a walk.
She rubbed the beast's wings. "I think it remembers," she whispered.
Arthur walked up to the hippogriff. "You're right," he said while he reached to pet it's head. "It wasn't my fault though."
The beast balked and reared on it's hind legs. Penelle stepped away and Arthur reached for the its collar.
"Hey!" Arthur screamed. "What's the matter with you?" he asked while gripping the band of leather around its neck.
The hippogriff flapped its wings and freed itself from Arthur's grasp with a gust of wind.
"Are you alright?" Penelle asked.
"I'm fine." Arthur said as he stood. He looked at the beast and the beast looked at him. "Today is not my day, I guess."
Penelle resumed petting the winged creature. "What makes you say that?"
"Well, Olmeir totally snubbed me for no reason," Arthur said while slumping against a tree. "Sipher is still toying with me. I know you beat her just now but she'll be back." He hung his head. "Even that thing is pissed at me."
"So you're giving up?" Penelle chimed.
Arthur looked up at her. "What?"
"All of those are things you can change, Arthur," she explained.
"I mean, yeah..." Arthur said while kicking a rock. "It just sucks."
Penelle only sighed and a bell rang out in the woods, signaling the end of class.
"Looks like you'll have to befriend Mr. Snuggles another time," she teased Arthur and they both walked back to the hut and led the hippogriff back to its home. Afterward they made their way back to the castle.
"I should talk to Olmeir," Arthur said.
"You should," Penelle agreed as they approached the entrance of the library.
"I should talk to Sipher, too," Arthur continued."I don't think she'll listen though."
Penelle walked through the circular doorway and waited for Arthur to enter. "Just try your best."
"I will," Arthur assured her. He looked up at the endless shelves throughout the library. "So about that book... Where do we start?"
Penelle walked to the very first shelf and looked back at Arthur. "Let's start right here."
"Sure," Arthur groaned at the daunting task before him. "I'll take the top."
Penelle stooped to peruse the lower half of the bookself and Arthur stood to look at the books above her.
"Arthur?"
"Yeah?"
Penelle looked up at him with a book in her hand. "Why don't you play Quidditch?"
"Just don't care for it really." Arthur shrugged.
"Oh." Penelle put the book back and grabbed another. "I tried out once."
"Didn't go well?" he asked while also scanning books.
Penelle shook her head. "I was horrid at flying a broom."
Arthur moved to another shelf. "I was never good at the whole broom-flying thing either."
"Well I'm decent now," Penelle chimed, following him. "I could teach you."
Arthur flipped through yet another textbook. "Thanks, but I lost it somewhere."
"Shame," Penelle mocked.
"I know, tragic," Arthur returned with a smile.
They continued looking for a book that could help decode the message and went through several shelves before finding something.
"Arthur, look!" Penelle took a book off the shelf and stood.
"Ssh." Arthur tried to quiet her then looked at the text she held. "Charms on Text and Language," he muttered.
"Yeah," Penelle clapped to release her excitement. "We found it."
"May I?" Arthur asked before taking the book from Penelle. He opened the book and laid it on the floor, kneeling between the two shelves. "Let's see..."
Penelle joined him on the library floor. "You brought the note, right?"
"It's right here." Arthur pulled out the folded paper and handed it to her then flipped through the text to find what he was looking for.
"Transcribus, the transliteration charm," Arthur read.
Penelle pulled out her wand and pointed at the paper Arthur had gathered from the cave. "Transcribus," she repeated.
A flash of inky blackness leaped from the page and the scrawled nonsense was replaced with legible words.
"What's does it say?" Arthur asked while waving his hand to clear a bit of smoke left by the spell.
Penelle picked up the note and read. "Phase one: Rose Oil, Pomegranate, Flitterbloom, and Kindred Blood?" She looked up at Arthur with a lost look on her face.
"Anything else?"
"Phase two: Silverweed, Lavender, Moly Petals, and Unicorn Blood," she read, still confused by these lists. "What is this for?"
"Potion ingredients," Arthur muttered while thinking back to the cave. "He wants me to make potions for him."
"Who?" Penelle asked.
"The vampire," Arthur said as he picked up the charm book and placed it back on the shelf. He returned to Penelle and reached for the newly discovered potion list but she pulled it away.
"You're going to make a potion for a vampire?"
"Yes, I have to do what he says 'lest I never love again'. Remember?"
"I remember," Penelle said. "Do you love me, Arthur?"
"Wha- I mean, I like-"
"If you love me then you don't have to listen to the vampire," she reasoned. "Just keep the love you already have."
"Penelle..." Arthur began. "It's not just about me. What if he comes for the school next? Or my family?"
Penelle was silent for a long while. "I understand," she said finally.
Arthur took the list from her and looked on as she turned to walk away. His mouth opened but no words came out. She exited the library Arthur and watched her leave, stunned. He wondered about what Penelle said but for now he was going to act on his initial plan to make the potions.
To gather all the ingredients would be a tall order and would spell doom on the rest of his life since killing a unicorn created an inescapable curse. Fortunately the Potions classroom had all of the things he needed. However, this option was not without it's own risks. Arthur descended the stairs leading the underground class room and looked both ways while drawing his wand. Breaking into a classroom after classes had ended today was certainly in violation of some rule or another. However Arthur was without viable alternative. He pointed at the double wooden doors with his redwood wand.
"Alohomora." he whispered and the lock fell free. It landed in his waiting hand and Arthur pushed the door open just a tad so that he may slide in and quickly shut the door behind. Inside the classroom he was met with darkness. He put the lock into his pocket and then felt around on the wall for a candle. Near-blind, he took the waxy object from its iron housing and lit it with a flick of his wand. With only a small bit of light to guide him, Arthur searched the cupboards, desks and shelves for the listed ingredients.
The weeds, flowers, and such were easy to locate and collect. In contrast, the pomegranate was not in such bountiful supply. Arthur eventually found the shelf where the jars of dried fruit were kept. He reached in the dark to grab the jar he wanted but knocked it down instead. It fell to the brick floor and shattered. Arthur froze as the sound of splitting glass echoed in the hall outside the room.
Not good.
Arthur picked up the pomegranate and stored it in his bag then continued creeping through the room. By his count there were only two ingredients left to get but before he could confirm as such on his list, footsteps sounded in the hallway. Arthur ducked as the door to the potion room swung open, light from the hall painting a swathe across part of the room.
"I know you're here," Arthur heard droning from the doorway.
He blew out the candle he held and tried to keep as still as possible. With the list of ingredients in his hand he brought it within an inch of his face, trying to read through the dark.
All that's left is the blood.
The kindred blood would clearly need to come from Arthur himself, a grisly thought, while the unicorn blood had to be somewhere in the classroom, right? Most students wouldn't be using unicorn blood but if there was unicorn blood anywhere in the school, this would be the place.
A snap of the fingers. Every candle in the room flared alive with a foot-tall flame, including the one in Arthur's hand. The room lit up like daylight and Arthur squirmed under the table like a mouse in a cage. He dropped the candle and stepped on it so it wouldn't burn him or any of the furnishings.
"Come out, Vaerum," Snape ordered.